Pepino Mango Nance

Pepino Mango Nance was a class project made under the strict "rules" of
CNTV 508 (at USC). The rules of the class were: the film had to be non-sync
16 mm, the number of shoot days could not exceed 10, the shooting ratio
could not be more than 1:3, only two sessions of 4 hours each were allowed
for the sound mix, and the finished film could not be longer than 400 Feet
in length (approx. 11 minutes).

Bann and Gillian chose to be partners for this class but were considered to
have very different approaches in style and method. They were inspired by
Mike Davis's "City of Quartz" and started conducting research about day
labor and their own work experiences in the households and businesses of
the rich. They met Joseph Julian Gonzales, a second generation Chicano and
music composer who was beginning an experimental composition for a string
quartet inspired by hawker calls of the vendors of downtown Los Angeles.
Most of the street vendors were first generation immigrants-many of them
"illegal" from Central America.

The film and the developing score influenced each other. Joseph's main
concern was the "emotional pull" of the piece, the filmmakers' interest was
the political scenario in which the project was situated. There was a
considerable amount of conflict and tension among all parties in the making
of the film which was ultimately resolved.

In the course of shooting, a close friendship evolved between the
filmmakers and Marta-Julia Lemus, the street vendor whose story runs
parallel with Joseph's in the film. The street scenes were the most
difficult to shoot as they involved visual evidence of police action
against the street vendors while not calling attention to them or placing
them in any compromising situation.

In the end the film is a complex mix weaving art, politics, law, and
culture into a whole package, experienced in 10 minutes, no small feat.
Pepino Mango Nance serves as an example of what is possible under very
restricted means to other students of film. It also can be used in
classroom discussions of immigration, urban America, politics and law as
well as providing an inside look at the act of creation.